This is as close as I could get to the Nebraska truck. There's a security process.

Good morning.

When I was in grad school at Iowa, I took a class that included extended Willa Cather reading. She grew up in Nebraska around the turn of the century and wrote stories of the hardships of frontier life on the great plains.

I think she covered cold brats and frozen keg pumps in her Pulitzer Prize winner “One of Ours.” I didn’t say what grade I got in this class.

It’s cruddy out there. I’m looking at the streamers from the goal posts in the north end zone and they are wiggling and horizontal. Wind out of the north is 15 to 20 and steady. Temps are in the low 30s if even.

You might not need the “dark sciences” from Cather’s novels to cure your afflictions, but keep the keg out of the wind.

– Short week, so not a lot of news has trickled out.

What we know is RB Mark Weisman is probably the guy today and RB Damon Bullock might be out with the back bruise.

Other than that, the Hawkeyes are healthy. In body, probably spirit.

– Fun interview with Iowa LB Cole Fisher this week. His brother, Sean, is an LB with the Huskers. The family is from Omaha, so, yes, it’s a split household.

Here’s the interview:

– Iowa QBs and TEs were out. Some of the TEs wore shorts. Most of the QBs wore stocking caps.

– Nebraska is out there now. One player has a sleeveless, no-belly vest thingie on. He looks good.

– This will have to be cut short today. Need to do TV, KCRG’s “Countdown to Kickoff” show which begins 10:30 and leads into the game.

– FGs into the north end zone will be an adventure, but the wind is supposed to slow, so we’ll see. The Kinnick crew just reset the south end zone goal posts.

– UNL kicker Brett Maher just tried a 32-yard field goal that was held up in the air and short. Into the wind, of couse.

– Meanwhile with the wind, Iowa’s Mike Meyer just drilled a 53-yarder.

– OK, did TV show.

It’s unapologetically cold. It’s the coldest day of the year. I’m tying this with frozen nub fingers. A Hawkeye fan yelled just as I went on.

I tried to warm myself to the enthusiasm. It didn’t work.

Enjoy the game.